


what myths must make us man?

by the_nerd_youre_looking_for



Series: TMA Fantasy Week [6]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Curses, Hopeful Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Past Character Death, TMA Fantasy Week, The Power Of Love, but isnt he always, i gotta keep him being dead!, its just danny again, like sort of inspired by that, martin is a bit of a monsterfucker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 06:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_nerd_youre_looking_for/pseuds/the_nerd_youre_looking_for
Summary: Supposedly, there's a man-turned beast living in the crumbling mansion on the woods.Supposedly, he was cursed by a witch for his cruelty.Supposedly, the only thing keeping him from going on a rampage is the gifts of food the townspeople give him each seasonMartin, frankly, thinks that's a crock of horseshitPrompt: Legend
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Tim Stoker
Series: TMA Fantasy Week [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2201430
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	what myths must make us man?

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from Will Wood's Song With Five Names. It's a bit dramatic but I'm on a Will Wood kick atm
> 
> So this is our last work for TMA Fantasy Week! I feel like I could write a lot for this particular idea, but I've only the time and energy for a one-shot rn. This has actually been nice for my writing, because I've been a little low on creativity and motivation. 
> 
> Why Martin is doing this is anyone's guess. Who's actually here for accurate character depiction of Martin proving a local legend bullshit.

There's a tale told to children in this town, to frighten them into eating their vegetables and going to bed on time. 

The story goes like this. Once upon a time, there were two wealthy brothers named Timothy and Daniel Stoker. Daniel was a lovely young man, who did not think any higher of himself because of his wealth, and was a friend to all the common folk. Timothy, on the other hand, was greedy and cruel to the servants in their manor. The final straw was when, in a fit of anger, Timothy murdered Daniel in cold blood. This angered a magical spirit (or a witch, it depends on who tells the story) who watched over the woods in which their manor lay. She cursed Timothy to become a ferocious beast, forever as hideous on the outside as he was on the inside. The townspeople must provide him with food, lest he grow hungry and begin hunting them for food. 

It's a tradition. On the last two days of each month, everyone gives a share of what they can spare and loads it into a cart. Then, on the first day of the next month, some poor soul gets volunteered to ride into the woods, to the decrepit manor and leave the barrels and bags at the gate. Upon return, they always have something to say about the manor. How there's no animals within a hundred feet of it, how it's colder there than anywhere else. Sometimes people see a light in one of the windows.

Nobody could say where the story comes from. It's simply accepted as fact.

______

Martin was starting to regret volunteering to bring everything up to the manor. 

For one, the journey was a lot longer than he expected. It was uncomfortable and he kept getting hit in the face with branches and this horse was stupid and hated him. And the whole story was a load of shit, so he really just felt like he was wasting food. 

That was why he'd volunteered, really. To prove it was all just made up. Really, who could live in that manor if it was as ruined as everyone said? If this was a true story, wouldn't it at least be in some sort of schoolbook as a bit of history? It was really too heavily steeped in morality and "if-you-don't-eat-your-broccoli-we-won't-feed-the-beast-and-then-what" to be believable. And Martin was sick of everyone treating this children's bedtime story as _fact._ So he decided to go waste a bunch of food for the bears to eat, and see if he can get anything.

When the manor came into view, the temperature didn't drop. He saw birds and squirrels off the path. And it looked like a normal old manor. Three stories, half the ceiling caved in, broken windows. The front gate was chained shut, but Martin supposed that didn't stop this beast at all, did it. He hopped off the cart and tied the horse to a tree while he unloaded everything. Hopefully, he'd get his proof before the animals got into it all. 

Examining the gate didn't reveal much. It was old. Rusty. But when Martin pressed his hand on it, to see if it would open at all, the chains fell off and it opened with a creak that sounded oddly like laughter. Creepy, sure. Nothing too out of the ordinary. 

When the gates closed behind him, Martin started to think maybe he'd fucked up. He turned around to try and open it, but it was somehow locked. The rest of the yard was encircled with a large stone wall that looked like it'd crumble and crush him if he tried to climb it. So, nothing but going forward left, then. 

The door was unlocked, which Martin sort of expected. It creaked open and a shower of dust rained down on him when he opened it. Inside, the place was a bit of a dump. The ceilings and corners were covered with cobwebs, furniture was moth-eaten and rotted, and a section of the ceiling was broken, leaving a hole where you could see up into the room above. A few corridors went off to either side of the foyer and a staircase stood in the center of it, with sections of the stair fallen through.

And on the stairs, was a man. 

"Oh." He said, just as startled to see Martin as Martin was to see him. "You really shouldn't be inside."

"Yeah, doesn't look structurally sound in here." Martin laughed. There wasn't much else to do. 

The man shook his head. "No, well...yeah, it really isn't." He smiled. "But, uh. Usually you all just leave everything outside." 

"Yeah, for 'the beast'." Martin did air quotes and tried to refrain from rolling his eyes. "Looks beast-free to me. It's all still outside."

"I don't think you're understanding." The man sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and came to meet Martin at the entrance. "Hi. My name is Timothy Stoker, and you're sort of stuck here now."

______

Once they got past the initial questions ("why am I stuck here?" "it's part of the curse, I don't know why she did that") ("you're like, really timothy from that story?" "yes, that's me") ("so, like, I really can't leave?" "you're free to try, no one's actually come inside before") and figuring out that Martin was, in fact, stuck here, Tim went out to bring the barrels and bags in and try to fix up lunch. 

"See, I try to scare them off from coming inside." Tim said as Martin watched him boil some noodles in a relatively clean kitchen. "Light a lantern in the window, open the door a bit, make some spooky sounds. I never knew if she was joking about that part or not, so I never took the chance."

Timothy Stoker didn't look like he was described. Martin had always imagined a tall and imposing man, sharp features and cold eyes, dressed to the nines. But Tim was actually pretty short, shorter than Martin definitely. He wore just regular clothes, and he seemed to smile a lot. It didn't get rid of the sad look in his eyes. Martin felt bad for him. He certainly wasn't a beast, and he wasn't cruel.

"So...it's just been you then? All these years?" 

Tim shrugged. "A while ago, there was this one woman, Sasha James. She was a few towns over, I think. Found this place and we had nice talks by the gate. Last I heard, she was off studying somewhere. Nice lady." He shrugged. "Other than that, yeah. When I got cursed, she made sure all the people working here could leave. Didn't want me having any friends." He chuckled darkly. 

"Who's this...she? The one who cursed you?" Martin felt a little bad, asking so many questions, but he was curious. "I mean, just looking at you, I can tell our version of the story isn't true."

"The version where I'm awful and kill my brother and some benevolent forest spirit turns me into a horrific beast? Yeah, no. I actually think she spread that around." He shook his head and smiled, although he still looked sad. "The spirit who cursed me, her name is Nikola. She sucks."

"I can imagine." Martin sat awkwardly. "Do you...do you mind giving me the real story? Only if you're comfortable of course, I hardly know you, so it's reasonable if-"

"No, no it's fine." Tim waved his hand and sat down with him. "I mean, we will be housemates for the foreseeable future, so." He shrugged and took a deep breath. "Me and my little brother Danny. We lived here all our lives, pretty much. Neither of us were terrible greedy people. Danny, he was great. But one day he was exploring the forest when he went somewhere he shouldn't have. He came right back once he realized, but he was...drawn back in. I followed, to see if I could help any but I was too late. He was forced into some...some sort of trap. The spirit, Nikola...she killed him. A lot of those next few weeks are a blur. I was angry, I was grieving, and I wanted revenge. I set out one day, thinking I was prepared to kill the spirit, when she got me as well. But she couldn't just kill me, no. She thought it would be _funny_ if I was stuck in my house where I couldn't get to her, with the added bonus that everyone who met me would hate me. It's been a lot! But at least I don't starve to death." He laughed weakly as he gestured at the food they'd lugged in. 

"I am...so sorry." It was the only thing Martin could think to say. "Do you know if there's any way to break the curse?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. Sasha and I discussed it, but we didn't find anything. Nikola never told me, and I'm not even sure she put in a way for it to be broken." He looked over at Martin and smiled. "Don't suppose I'm so lucky to have to make you fall in love with me before my twenty-first birthday?" 

Martin nearly choked on his spit, which would've been embarrassing. "Yeah, uh. I don't know about that one." He knew his face was bright red, but he couldn't do much about it. Tim was very handsome and Martin was....well, he was Martin. He didn't find himself particularly attractive. 

To his relief, Tim laughed and it seemed genuine. "Well, whatever. Maybe we'll find something out. In the meantime, noodle time." He gets up to stir the pot a bit more, then went about putting the noodles in bowls for them. Martin felt like he ought to get up and help, but he felt just...tired. The reality of this situation was starting to hit him and he just wanted a nap. 

They ate for a moment in silence before Tim said something. "Do you think anyone will come out here looking for you? I don't need anyone else getting stuck here."

Martin thought about it a moment and answered truthfully. "No, I don't think so."

______

The next morning, Martin had a bit of a panic attack over being stuck in a house that was literally falling down around them with a stranger who was kinda hot. That day was weird, mentally, and Tim pretty much gave him space. After that...well, things settled into a bit of a routine.

In the morning, they had breakfast together. Talked about stuff. After that, Tim would go for a walk in the yard and Martin would go read a bit in the small library they had. Then lunch, generally on their own time. Sometimes they ate together, mostly not. Then, Tim would scrap some rotting wooden furniture for firewood (or try and pick up a bit if there wasn't any) and Martin tried to patch some of the holes up. He'd taken that up as a bit of a pet project. It gave him something to do, keep him from losing it. Then dinner together, downtime, and bedtime.

The rooms on the second floor weren't so bad, surprisingly, and most of the rooms were still usable. Martin took one of the guest rooms and tried not to feel homesick.

It worked, sometimes.

______

A month passes, and at first Tim seems happy. Some days, he'd taken to reading with Martin in the library. Sometimes he would invite Martin on his walks. It seemed like things were going to take on some sort of normalcy, or whatever that could mean. 

Then Tim started having bad days. 

It started out just every so often. He would get quiet, hardly eat, stay in his room more often. It worried Martin, but he didn't think he could do much besides bring him meals and warm tea every so often, maybe gently encourage him outside. It was worrying, but nothing he couldn't work with. Until it started happening so frequently, Tim's days seemed to be almost entirely bad. Some days he didn't leave his room, and wouldn't look at Martin when he brought him food.

Usually Tim wouldn't talk to him. Sometimes he would thank him for the food, sometimes he'd snap to get out of his room. Martin didn't really hold it against him. He was having a rough time from the looks of it.

But on the third Monday of this, Martin had to know just what was going on.

"Tim." Martin pulled a chair up next to Tim's bed, where he was curled up facing the wall. "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Leave me the hell alone, why don't you?" Tim didn't sound mad, just...exhausted.

"No, I won't. Tell me what's wrong, please?" 

Tim sighed, and Martin thought he might've gone to sleep. "You hate me." Tim said quietly. "I know you do, and I'm sorry."

That surprised Martin. "What do you mean? 'Course I don't."

"You're stuck here because of me." Tim rolled to face Martin, and he could see Tim had been crying recently. "You had a whole life, and now you've got to live in this shit house with me and I was...I was _happy_ for company, which is unbelievably selfish of me. I mean, I get company because you literally cannot leave. So, you hate me, I'm a shitty person, you've been taking care of me and that makes me feel guilty, and sometimes being stuck in a crumbling building by the being that killed my brother gets me down. That's the checklist."

It sounded like Tim was trying to make a joke, but it made Martin's heart break a little. He placed his hand on the bed, and after a moment Tim took it. "I don't hate you." He said steadily. "You might not believe it, but I don't. I know you do your best to keep people inside, so it's my own fault I'm stuck. And I can't really blame you for being happy for the company. I don't mind." He squeezes Tim's hand. "And I don't know how much I can do about the last bit, but...I'm here for you. I know it's hard to believe people care for you sometimes, but I do." 

Tim smiles at that, and his eyes are still sad but it's a start.

______

Life goes on. The townspeople deliver the food each month. Tim and Martin go about their routines. The holes in the floors and stairways are patched up, and Martin wants to start on the ceiling before winter sets in. 

Life goes on.

______

Things are hard during the winter, as usual.

Martin only finished a portion of the roof, so they get snowed on. Tim told him he wasn't allowed to work on it where he might slip and fall, so he was stuck cooped up inside. It drove him a little nuts, so he took to pacing the halls.

Martin had bad days. Tim had bad days. They both tried to take care of each other through it. 

They argued once. It was about something or other, and they got mad and mean. It took a day of them catching their breaths for them to make up.

But spring comes and brings new hope, new life, new chances. 

______

"Is it bad that I think I might love you?"

Martin almost falls out of his chair. "What?!"

"I know, it's sudden." Tim takes a bite of his toast and glances toward the wall. "It's just....I think I love you and I don't know if that's bad or not. And I don't know if it's bad to hope for reciprocation."

Martin hadn't expected this much openness. He hadn't even tried to hope it would go like this. "I'm pretty sure I fell for you a while ago." Is all he says. "So I don't think it's bad."

Tim smiles and his eyes smile with his mouth. He puts his hand on the table, and Martin takes it. They finish breakfast holding hands, and don't leave each other for the rest of the day.

______

They wake up one morning to birdsong. 

"Something feels different today." Tim is already getting dressed, and unreadable look on his face. It looked hopeful. "I don't know what it is, but it feels....different."

Martin wakes up a bit more and really thinks about it. He feels different too, like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. "Do you think...?"

"There's only one way to find out." Tim was breathless, and Martin couldn't even begin to understand how he might feel.

They walk to the gate, hand in hand, to see what might lie beyond.

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to Sweeney Todd while writing this which really was not the vibe I'm getting at here but it slaps. If you like musicals and dark comedies, do yourself a favor and listen to the OBC Sweeney Todd album. Not the movie soundtrack, it doesn't have the same vibes.
> 
> I wish I could've written more of this, I feel like it's so rushed. But I'm doing like 90% of this at 9pm so I don't have the time for more chapters.
> 
> What actually broke the curse? Could not tell you. They just deserve a happy ending


End file.
